Chapter 461: What Should We Do From Now On (25)

Eden's concert was a hit, but we barely had a moment to breathe before diving back into work due to Joo-Han wrapping up his latest project. A new album for our group was on the horizon, and it was expected to drop in a few months. However, there were commitments to attend to before that could happen.

"Yeong-Yee, you are up once Kun-Ho finishes, so please keep rehearsing. And Joo-Han, try not to get lost in your phone too much."

"Okay, got it."

We were swamped, even more so than during our usual comeback prep. We had to juggle preparations for a YMM Entertainment Christmas song and an end-of-year performance for the label's idols. Today was twice as hectic than normal because we had to tackle both the year-end show rehearsals and the Christmas song recording.

The practice room was buzzing more than usual with members from Allure, Chronos, and Sequence all mashed together. There were also more staff members. It was a logistical circus.

"So, shall we get started with the practice?" Da-Win, who had been everyone's unofficial leader since our trainee days, said with a grin that signaled he was up to something. "Who's up for using this practice room?"

Seeing everyone hesitate and exchange wary looks, Da-Win pushed again. "Surely, us oldbies should take it, right?"

This sparked a small uproar from Tucan and Sae-Yeon. "What! No way, that's just mean and unfair!"

The older members of Allure began to argue fiercely. This entire debacle was awkwardly witnessed by the younger members of Chronos and Sequence.

Joo-Han and I, having known each other for ages and being somewhat oldbies ourselves, didn't find the situation uncomfortable. It was a different story for the others. Most had only briefly trained together, and some hadn't met at all until today.

Sae-Yeon turned to Aeon and Byeong-Kwan of Sequence. "You guys want the big room too, right?"

The two newbies were visibly flustered. They shook their heads frantically. "We’re good with whatever, really..."

Aeon and Byeong-Kwan were the newest additions with the shortest training period, and they were uncomfortable even with Chronos members.

Seeing their response, Da-Win chuckled and addressed Tucan and Sae-Yeon with a commanding tone. "Come on, let the hyungs have the room. Move along now, kids."

Allure was currently fighting to take over the practice room from the juniors. I just found the situation funny. Those guys had not changed a bit from their trainee days, even though it had been ten years.

For the end-of-year performance of our label's idols, we decided to form small units and prepare special stages. Knowing that the fans were aware of how interconnected we had been since our trainee days, the teams were divided into oldbies and newcomers based on our trainee period experiences.

The Team Oldbie included the older members of Allure, except for Sae-Yeon and Tucan, and members of Chronos—myself, Joo-Han, Goh Yoo-Joon—and the older members of Sequence, who had been trainees for a long time. The newcomer team consisted of the remaining members.

Although Sae-Yeon and Tucan debuted a while ago, they joined much later than Joo-Han and me in terms of training period. Although Goh Yoo-Joon’s training duration was hard to tell if it had been long or relatively short, he was categorized as an oldbie to balance the team numbers.

The three groups had split into two teams, and because each team had a large number of members, the older members of Allure were fiercely competing for the larger practice rooms. Especially in our team, Da-Win was notorious for his stubbornness.

"Give the spacious area to the seniors and head downstairs, you newbies."

"This would be a reportable offense in games, you know? It's like old-timer tyranny."

"Yeah, yeah, got it. Just go downstairs."

The presence of cameras exacerbated their antics. Eventually, the newbie team was chased downstairs by Da-Win to the lower practice room. Meanwhile, we ended up like shrimps watching whales fight, munching on the ice cream bought by the Allure members.

"...Wow, you guys really have grown in size, but you haven’t changed a bit from the old days."

Supervisor Kim, who had been with us since our trainee days, chuckled from a distance. He looked at us nostalgically. Despite the improvement in the building and practice rooms, the disputes over practice rooms A and B from our trainee days hadn’t changed.

The Allure members were fighting over the rooms, and we, the younger ones, were just sitting side by side watching them. It was a routine that had been the same for ten years of our trainee life.

After Allure debuted, this routine was taken up by Joo-Han and Il-Seong from Sequence, who often fought over the practice rooms. Regardless of what Supervisor Kim said, Da-Win brimmed with smugness and forcefully sent the newbie members downstairs before gathering everyone in the center of the practice room.

"It seems like we either have too many people or not enough."

We combined members from three groups, but the number was smaller than expected. I looked at the gathered oldbie members and suggested, "Should we take advantage of our numbers and do something like a musical concept? Like Street Center."

"That sounds good for a musical concept. Should Hyun-Woo and Yoo-Joon take the main vocals?"

"Yeah, sure."

"No, let's switch it up. Hyun-Woo can be the main dancer this time, and Yoo-Joon will take the main vocals."

"Uh, okay."

"Yep."

Goh Yoo-Joon and I readily agreed.

We had always been assigned roles together, whether it was for monthly evaluations or other activities, and everyone knew their place when we gathered like this. Goh Yoo-Joon and I, the youngest of the team, had always been given the best parts since our trainee days. This time, the older members graciously handed over the spotlights to us.

"What song are you going to sing?" a staff member asked. The setting made it feel like a monthly evaluation, but it was indeed a performance. Therefore, we chose the song, and a professional choreographer would help with the choreography.

"We will decide quickly and let you know." Da-Win naturally took the role of the Team Oldbies’ leader. He spoke to the staff and then made the members sit in the middle of the practice room.

"Hyun-Woo mentioned earlier wanting to do a musical concept. Does anyone have a different idea?"

Joo-Han raised his hand. "The musical concept is good, but don't you think the newbie team might have come up with the same idea?"

"Probably, right? Jin-Sung is in that team."

"Ah." I quickly agreed and nodded. Jin-Sung had always expressed a desire to perform story-driven choreographies that involved many people, just like the Street Center guys. The newbie team was likely to push this concept.

What else could we do? As the members were pondering, Goh Yoo-Joon spoke up. "What if the oldbies embraced a sort of old-timer image?"

I remembered Sae-Yeon complaining earlier about 'old-timer tyranny.' Goh Yoo-Joon seemed to be recalling that moment with a grin. "What about a concept where old-timers exert their tyranny?"

"Old-timers exerting tyranny as our concept?"

"Since we've got a fifteen-minute slot, we might as well make it both funny and cool. We could really play up the comedy aspect and make it look cool."

I pictured the image of seasoned players in games: immensely strong but inscrutable, often manipulating situations in a comical yet cunning manner.

"That’s a great idea. We can do something funny and also cool. I bet the newbie team will probably go for something cool."

I listed the members of the newbie team. None seemed likely to push for comedy like Goh Yoo-Joon would.

Joo-Han said, "If we’re going to make it funny, we should really go for it. How about some cosplay? Maybe a bit of role-playing?"

Il-Seong's eyes sparkled. "What about cosplaying different genres of old-timers? How about having characters like a company director, an oldbie gamer, or a master of life skills?"

Da-Win chuckled and put his hand on my shoulder. "Oh, that's good! Since Hyun-Woo is a gamer, he can take the role of the oldbie gamer."

I nodded and replied to Da-Win, "Then, since you look like a company director right now, you should play that role."

"You bet!" Da-Win laughed heartily, squeezing my shoulder like a real company director would.

"Let's dress him up. Game character costumes. What's that game Hyun-Woo often plays?"

"One Hours?"

"Yeah, that’s the one. It’d be great to wear a character costume from that game."

"Ah, hyung, that might be a bit exaggerated."

"And for Joo-Han..." Da-Win ignored my objection and looked at Joo-Han.

Goh Yoo-Joon immediately raised his hand and exclaimed, "How about Joo-Han hyung playing a king?"

As expected, Joo-Han smacked Goh Yoo-Joon on the back. "Have you lost your mind?"

l-Seong was amused by the scene, as if it had been a while since he witnessed something like this, and seemed to feel unexpectedly moved.

On the other hand, Da-Win liked Goh Yoo-Joon's suggestion a lot. "A king would be great! I heard that Chronos is called the Republic of Joo-Han."

"That news has even reached the Allure hyungs," I remarked without denying it.

Chronos was indeed the Republic of Joo-Han. I looked around at my teammates after I responded to Da-Win. Perhaps it was because we had all been together after a long time, but the meeting went off track because everyone was feeling nostalgic and joyful.

Da-Win, seemingly uninterested in steering the conversation back on track, was even more animated. He playfully teased the younger members as he looked around.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

"Chronos, it’s time to go record the song."

A staff member entered the practice room, and we quickly headed to the recording studio, having barely settled on a concept.